Rising From the Ashes (closed for Gearhead73 and Darkwarrioress)

[DarkWarrioress]

Everything she had known was gone. How she had survived or why was also unknown. There was little sense in looking back and trying to figure out the whys if she was going to survive the here and now. In the early days she had scrambled to find weapons. Knives, a working gun, anything. She gathered what food she deemed still edible. She carried it in a backpack she had found lying around. She forced her mind to not think about the childish drawings in the backpack. She couldn’t. In those early days, there were a lot of things she didn’t think about because if she did, she knew her mind would splinter. These days, she found it easier. She didn’t think, she just did what she needed to do. To survive. That’s what it was all about these days, surviving.

By day, she searched the rubble of her hometown for useful things to bring back to her camp. Camp was just outside of what was left of her town, not far from where she had found a trickle of moving water from out of the rocks. She couldn’t be sure that the water was safe after everything that had happened but she had seen birds drinking from it and she hadn’t found any dead bodies lying around. Sometimes, in situations like this, you had to do what you had to do to survive and Kara Stevens meant to survive. No, she meant to not only survive but also flourish. She had built up small walls around where she found water. It was only three sides but the water came out of the piled, fallen rocks on the fourth. It wasn’t much but she called it home. She had managed to make a place for a campfire, her bedroll and all the odds and ends she collected. Of course she slept with the Glock 17 9mm at her side. While it was a pistol that until now, only the cops had been able to wear and own, she had managed to rummage one up from one of the fallen homes she had come across. Until that moment, she had felt extremely vulnerable. Having the Glock made her feel a little safer. It fit in her hand as if it were made for her and with a bit of luck on her side, she had also found ammo to go with it. Now, the only thing she wished she would come across is rifle. They were hard to come by. Most places had already been ransacked by looters and people who had survived, like her, who were just doing what she was doing, fighting to survive.

Kara had heard rumors about the next town over. Something hadn’t gone right there. She had heard disturbing things about what had happened to the people that lived there. Kara wasn’t sure what to believe, but she wasn’t going to worry about something until it actually became a problem for her. This morning, she had secured her camp, as always and headed out with her backpack, searching for food… and knives. She had a thing for knives. Guns were okay. She knew how to use them and could hit what she aimed at, but sometimes you just couldn’t bring a knife to a gun fight. Still, they came in handy and she carried one slipped into the waistband of her jeans at the back. Today she was scrounging through the other end of the town. There had to be more to life than this. More she could be doing.

 

[gearhead73]

The sun was just starting to peek over the buildings to the east. Tripp had been laying prone on the roof of an old donut shop for the last hour looking through his scope. It had been pointless at first. As good as the glass was on his .308; there hadn't been enough ambient light to really see anything. Still, it wasn't just about seeing what was below, it was about training. Learning to fight through the boredom, the neck strain, the chill and dampness of the morning had become part of a self imposed regiment to become proficient with the rifle he had so painstakingly built.

It wasn't that he needed to learn how to shoot. Tripp's dad and uncles had taught him that by sending thousands of rounds downrange behind the family house in north central West Virginia. He would have never bragged about it to anyone, but he was a fucking surgeon with that Brown AB3 7mm-08. he had taken a number of deer with that gun and killed hundreds of targets with it. The difference was, all that trigger time had only been about sighting in the scope and learning how to control your breathing and gently squeeze the trigger from a bench and tripod.

"You don't pull it!" his Uncle Guy used to say. "It's not your dick!"

God he missed those times.

Later in life, after his dad and uncle passed as a result of asbestosis, Tripp had continued to shoot recreationally. It was as much about tradition and family as it was enjoying his time on the range. He had hunted since he was old enough to walk and had always been just as comfortable in the woods as he was in the city limits small town where he grew up and later in the suburbs where he had moved after taking a job out of state. He had been building AR platform rifles for years. At first it was to learn more about how they operated, but that then morphed into a fulfilling hobby. A mechanic by trade, he always like taking things apart to see how they worked. Later, he began to customize his builds and then eventually began to machine his own. There was an immense amount of satisfaction watching that little hole appear in the center of the target after firing a home built weapon. How could he have known how important that skill was going to end up being?

The first rays of the coming dawn started to illuminate the faded orange trim on the roof of the home store he was surveilling. A slight breeze drifted across his right cheek. The birds were chirping a familiar song and everything felt and smelled like it did yesterday. This was the third morning in a row he had watched from this perch. He hadn't seen anything moving other than a stray cat looking for varmints around the perimeter of the building. He was hoping this trend would continue. Tripp had a plan to set himself up with a way to purify water for drinking but the supplies that he needed were inside. After things went to shit, everything had been ransacked. Grocery stores were bare. Sporting goods stores were barren as well. He was fairly certain that this place has been looted of batteries and anything chemically that could burn or make fuel. What he was hoping for, was water filters; specifically filters for refrigerators. Even if the ones on the shelves were gone, he hoped that there were still a couple in the floor models that the looters had overlooked.

"Time to nut up or shut up." Tripp whispered to himself.

He made a final sweep with his scope before rising to a crouch. He wasn't looking forward to this. This building was likely full of the three D's, Dampness, Darkness, and Danger.

 

[DarkWarrioress]

From head to foot, she was covered in dust and soot. Her back was starting to complain, her feet were killing her. She had just lobbed a huge piece of concrete to one side. Standing up, she brushed her hair out of her face, reached back and took all of it in her hand, twisting it until she could tie it into a loose knot. She should have done something with it before she left this morning but she was eager to get busy before someone else came alone. Today was the hardware store. She was beyond expectations in that she would find something useful here. It would have been one of the first places people would have emptied out but you just didn’t know until you looked. Looking around she gave a sigh and bent over once again.

The ground crunched. Kara stilled for just a moment before she whipped around, gun drawn.

“What do you want?”

She made her tone as stern as she could. Her eyes took in the man. He was filthy and gaunt. His eyes looked haunted. His clothes were torn and he looked like he hadn’t eaten in days.

“Listen Mister, I got here first. When I’m done here feel free to go through everything you like until then, back off. I will not hesitate to shoot you and if you’re wondering how good of a shot I am…. Try me. Strictly up to you.”

She stared into his eyes without blinking. In return, the man stared at her but his eyes roamed over her body and she could see that spark in his eyes which spelt trouble. Her arm was steady as she stared him down. He made the mistake of taking one step toward her and she thumbed the trigger back. That made him stop. A minute, maybe two, trickled between them in silence before he held up his hands and backed away. She turned in his direction, her glock pointed at his chest. He stepped away from the rubble she was going through, continued to back up until he turned and left. Kara took a deep breath and slowly let it out. She released the hammer of her glock slowly and then lowered her arm. The gun went back to its rightful place and Kara sat down on a huge piece of concrete. She should be use to things like that. There were still others in this new world, some good, some bad. She bore a scar on her left side from some guy coming at her with knife. He had managed to slice her pretty good before she shot him dead. It wasn’t something she was proud of and it was a lesson to learn. The world wasn’t as it use to be. Every person that was still alive was fighting to stay that way. She swiped a hand over her face. Her nerves at the time had been steel. Now she was pure jello and she needed to get back to work so she could head home before the sun set.

 

[gearhead73]

The steep stairway that led from the roof exited into the kitchen of the donut shop. As he entered the space he turned slowly and scanned the space to make sure nothing or no one had moved into the space while he was topside. As he moved toward the corner where he had cached his other weapons, he pulled the enhanced takedown pin of the .308, unlatched the charging handle, and pulled back slightly until he could grasp the bolt carrier group. He removed the BCG and then carefully reassembled the upper to the lower receiver and reset the pin. This had been a standard practice for him since he had started moving from place to place on his scavenging runs. Carrying multiple rifles plus handguns as well as ammo for each was not an option. Years ago when he had been at a shooting match, he saw a couple of old timers that had converted a child's stroller into a carryall for their weapons. The metal frame lent itself to adding attachments and ate rifle rests installed easily. Leave out the carseat which accompanied most modern strollers, and the zippered compartments meant to assist busy moms, became the perfect place to store ammo, oil, cleaning supplies and spare parts. Tripp returned the rifle to the stroller and then wrapped the BCG he had removed under an old slop sink against the far wall. This way, if someone happened upon his guns, they couldn't use them against him. He retrieved the 9mm BCG from the same hiding space, installed into the short barreled pistol caliber rifle, and slipped two magazines into the cargo pockets of his pants.After hiding his rig under an old tarp that had been on the floor, Tripp walked to the door and took a last slow look around before heading out.

The sun was up now and the gentle breeze that had chilled him in the early morning hours had died down. It was only about fifty yards to the main entrance of the store he wanted to search, but Tripp hadn't been able to see that back of the building from the roof. He had learned to be especially careful when entering any new space so he decided to walk the perimeter just case there was any sign of trouble. He hadn't seen another person in weeks, and that encounter hadn't went so well; especially for the other person.

These big box stores were huge and taking his time to constantly checking his surroundings set up an enormous amount of time. It had taken almost two hours to make it to the back of the building. He has checked all of the shipping containers that lined the rear of the property as well at the multiple pallets that had been simply forgotten over time.

The morning had gotten warm and Tripp was starting to sweat a bit. Deciding to rest for a bit, Tripp sat on a concrete barrier that lined a loading dock and grabbed his canteen to down a few swallows of warm but clean water. He was in mid swallow when a disheveled man running full tilt rounded the corner and nearly ran right into Tripp. Dropping his canteen from the start, Tripp fumbled until he was able to bring the AR9 that was hanging from a sling to his shoulder.

"Who the fuck are you?" Tripp shouted a little louder than he had wanted to.

His thumb moved to the selector and pushed it to the fire position.

"Where the fuck did you come from?" realizing what a goddamned stupid question that was a second too late.

He was dirty and thin and his unkept hair and beard was matted together and caked with what looked like mud. His clothes were torn and ragged and it looked as though he had been through a few fights lately.

"I don't want any trouble." The man said, his voice trembling and hoarse as he eyed the linear compensator pointing at his face.

"Then go back the way you came." Tripp said evenly.

"I can't!" he said quickly. Fear in his voice. Tripps finger sliding to the trigger. "That lady will kill me!
"What crazy bitch?" Tripp asked, his own pulse quickening. He hadn't seen another soul in weeks and no there may be two in the same day!


"Fuck you! I ain't sayin shit! Fuck all you crazy cocksuckers!" he spat as his hand moved to his back and he lunged forward.


His forward momentum carried him only a few feet as his head or what was left of it snapped back as a 115 grain 9mm bullets penetrated the cranium in two neat little holes but exited in a red mist of blood bone and brain.


"Fuck!" Tripp swore as he immediately started scanning his surroundings. He had just made enough noise to attract everyone in the county.

 

[DarkWarrioress]

From somewhere in the back of the hardware store, her head shot up, followed by her body.

What the fuck?

The shot had rang out clearly and loudly and from somewhere in this very store. Taking her glock from its resting place, she thumbed the safety off as she moved forward slowly, dodging behind the remnants of shelves and concrete, glancing around them, her eyes seeking out the source of the shoot fired. It had been some time since she had run into humans and apparently today was her day to run into two of them.

Slowly she weaved her way through the debris, her gun moving fluidly with her. Time after time, she had come across nothing or anyone. Spoken too soon. Her lips firmed grimly as she lined up his back with the muzzle of her gun. He was wary, she’d give him that. She poked around her a big piece of concrete.

“I don’t know who you are, Mister but keep walking. I’m scavenging this place today.”

Her eyes fell on the dead body lying in a pool of his own blood that was making a mess on the ground in front of her. They snapped back up to the gun pointed in her direction. There was a grudgingly glint of appreciation in her eyes. Not for the man, they were a dime a dozen, well, at least at one time they were. No, it was for the firepower he held in his hands. However, that didn’t make her lower her own weapon. He was rough looking but then again, who wasn’t in this day and age. He wore a ball cap pulled low over his eyes. His facial hair made him look rougher. No, maybe it was what she could see of his eyes. They were cold and meant business and right now that business was staring down the barrel of a rifle at her. With slow deliberation she made a show of thumbing down the trigger and held up both hands.

“No harm, no foul. I heard a shot and came to investigate. That poor son of a bitch must have gotten stupid and lunged at you. This place is big enough for the two of us. You go your way, I’ll go mine.”

She didn’t want any trouble and this man looked like trouble. With a capital T.

 

[gearhead73]

As soon as the shot stopped echoing off of the surrounding structures, Tripp's legs began to move. He had never had any formal trining, but he knew that a long held practice was to shoot and then move. Movement meant distance from the threat. Movement meant finding cover. Movement meant survival. As soon as he rounded the corner that the now very dead vagabond he had encountered had materialized from, he made a stark discovery. The back of the building was all but destroyed. Tripp had heard that in the last days before things really got bad, the National Guard had tried to restore some kind of order. Fire fights had broken out and artillery had been used on civilians. There was rubble and debris everywhere. He panned what was left of the structure and caught the glimpse of movement.

'Was this the crazy bitch?' he thought. He moved next to what had been an interior wall and froze, gripping his SBR a bit tighter. He strained his ears listening for any sound of someone moving. His eyes scanned back and forth slowly looking for any more signs that he wasn't alone. He was about to move forward to get a better look further inside the store when a woman's voice broke the silence.

“I don’t know who you are, Mister but keep walking. I’m scavenging this place today.” the stern but feminine voice said behind him.

Tripp spun around to face the speaker that had a gun pointed at his chest. He leveled his rifle and looked through the iron sights preparing to ventilate the woman's head just like the guy he had met before her. She was covered in what he guessed was concrete dust. There were black streaks of what he assumed was soot on her face and clothing. Her curly hair was tied back in some loose knot pony tail thing that, while messy and a bit dirty, accentuated her face and thin neck. She must have been rooting around in this debris for a good while. He wondered how he hadn't seen her as he watched the place this morning. Tripp clenched his jaw and tensed his arms, ready to engage when she seemed to decide she wasn't wanting to fight.

“No harm, no foul. I heard a shot and came to investigate. That poor son of a bitch must have gotten stupid and lunged at you. This place is big enough for the two of us. You go your way, I’ll go mine.” she said as she moved her finger from the trigger, raised both hands pointing her pistol in a direction away from Tripp.

For a moment he was confused, and not sure what to do. For a few awkward seconds he just stared down the rifle at her, trying to figure out what was happening. Was she giving up? Was she surrendering? Was she setting him up? Did she have a partner, creeping up on his six ready to take him out? His eyes darted around looking for threats. Seeing none he slowly lowered his gun to about her waist and then aimed the barrel to the side. It was still close enough to react if he needed to, but not a direct threat to her.

"You by yourself?" Tripp croaked out with a little more force than he had intended. "How many others are with you? Where did you come from? Do you live here?"

He mentally scolded himself for rapi firing so many questions, but he couldn't help himself. It had been so long since he had talked to anyone who didn't seem intent on killing him or taking what he had, he had forgotten how people interacted, or at least were supposed to.

 

[DarkWarrioress]

She kept her eyes upon him. While she had always been cautious around people, these days, trust was earned and barely given. She watched as he lowered his weapon as well but it never fully lowered nor was the safety engaged.

"You by yourself? How many others are with you? Where did you come from? Do you live here?"

She found a shelving unit to lean against. Again, never taking her eyes off him and moving slowly. Folding her arms over her chest, she stared at him. It was kinda funny, ya know? Hearing another person’s voice after only listening to your own day in and day out. Her lips smiled.

“Yeah. I’m on my own and I did live here before The Incident. I guess I still do live here, if you can call this living. What about you? You from around here? You a solitary or are there others with you?”

She had work to do. Things to accomplish before she could call it a night and here she was jaw-jacking with some stranger. She wasn’t bluffing when she said she was from around here and she didn’t recognize him. She knew practically everyone in this small town or rather, had. Nothing much ever happened around Gainesville but something horrendous had. From what she could piece together, their town had just been part of the fallout and not the cause and she still hadn’t figured out the cause. Bishop, the next town over, had suffered much worse from what she had heard. Not only that, stranger things were going on over there. She hadn’t found the guts to go investigate though.

“I guess we should bury that poor son of a bitch before he starts stinking up the whole place. I’ll see if I can find a shovel or two and something to wrap him in.”

She started to turn to move deeper into what was left of the store to find what she needed.

 

[gearhead73]

For what seemed like a few moments, she just looked at him. He stared back not knowing what to do. That fact that she was so calm, was actually unnerving. She leaned against a shelving unit that was nearby as a smile played across her lips. She folded her arms across her chest keeping the gun in her hand and it struck Tripp that for all his posturing and size, she didn't seem the least bit afraid. It was nice, and weird at the same time. Finding a large chunk of the broken wall, he stepped to the right a pace and took a tentative seat. He wasn't about to get comfortable, because comfort meant death; but he wanted to match her level of comfort so that maybe they could talk.

“Yeah. I’m on my own and I did live here before The Incident. I guess I still do live here, if you can call this living." she answered after a beat.

Her voice had changed. It was softer, almost melodic. It was amazing the difference in it once the adrenaline started to bleed off and the panic of the situation abated. The slight smile accentuated her pretty face, brightening it up and in combination with the softness of her tone, Tripps shoulders relaxed a bit and the gun dropped a bit lower. Her eyes had never left him and now that he wasn't sensing immediate danger, his eyes took a few seconds to roam over her.

She was slim, but not skinny. He could tell be her face that she didn't seem malnourished and by the amount of dirt and soot on her clothing he surmised it was more likely that she kept herself active and that kept her looking fit. Her brown hair was tied up but Tripp could tell it had a lot of natural curl. Her dusty but flawless complexion was complimented by full lips that made her smile infectious and Tripp caught himself wanting to smile along with her for no good reason. She had piercing blue-green eyes that seemed to look right through him and they made him feel self conscious.

"What about you? You from around here? You a solitary or are there others with you?” these questions brought him back to the moment.

"No, I'm alone." Tripp said softly. He WAS alone, so alone for what seemed like an eternity. "I'm not even from this state. Once things went to shit, I headed out and I've been moving around ever since. I had a truck for a while, but once the fuel dried up and things got worse, I struck out on foot."

Oddly enough, he actually felt better for a minute. This woman that he had just met now knew more about him than anyone in this half of the country. In a weird way, if they parted company right now it would be a little bit better knowing that someone out here knew that he existed.

“I guess we should bury that poor son of a bitch before he starts stinking up the whole place. I’ll see if I can find a shovel or two and something to wrap him in.” she said standing again and turning to head further into the store.

"I'll come with you." Tripp said unable to hide the excitement in his voice. He didn't want this conversation or whatever it was to end. "Name's Tripp by the way." he added falling in behind her. He chided himself for staring at her shapely ass as she walked ahead of him. "I hated to shoot that fucker, but he was reaching behind himself and I couldn't take the chance."

What the fuck was he doing? He didn't owe her and explanation...did he? What did she think about him? Then again why did he give a shit?

"He didn't leave me a choice." he added feeling pathetic.

 

[DarkWarrioress]

They walked side by side, well, not quite side by side, but close enough as they moved deeper into the interior of the store. She stopped and bend over, brushing aside some dirt and concrete dust and exposed a coil of rope. She paused in what she was doing to look over her shoulder at him.

“Kara and I’m sure he didn’t. I almost shot him myself.”

She went back to uncover the rope and pulled it free. Once that was done, she stood up again, rope in hand.

“Look, don’t be too hard on yourself. I don’t kill unless I have to. When it comes down to me or them and when they don’t leave me any other choice.”

She handed him the rope and her eyes went back to searching the rubble.

“Listen Tripp, I don’t know you from Adam but you’re welcome back to my camp as soon as we bury that guy. I don’t have much to share but I got some.”

Eventually, they found a big enough tarp to wrap the body in and a couple of shovels. They made their way back to the body and set everything to one side. Kara kneeled beside the body and went through his pockets, such as they were. There was a time she had been squeamish about doing such a thing and she finally talked herself through it. It was all about surviving and the guy wasn’t going to need anything. Her nimble fingers plucked free a pocketknife that had seen better days, and a small flashlight.

Spreading out the tarp and with his help, they rolled the body onto it and that’s when they found it. A handgun, tucked into his back waistband. Kara looked at Tripp.

“There was a good chance he was going to take you out, Tripp. You did what you had to do.”

Her voice was quiet as she plucked the gun free and after checking to see if there was a bullet in the chamber, she handed the gun to Tripp, barrel first.

“Let’s get him wrapped up and roped and we’ll take him into the woods and bury him. Did you find anything in the hardware store you might want?”

She started to wrap the body with the rope, tossing it to him so he could secure it around the body on his side. When they got done, she sat back on her haunches.

“You know, I’ve been wanting to get out of here and see what else is out there. Is it much the same as it is here or if there’s something more out there. It’s just been hard, being a solitary and a woman.”

It felt so damn good having another person to relate to. Someone who wasn’t out to rob her of what little she had or was out to hurt her. At least she didn’t think Tripp was like that. Yeah, he looked a little rough, but who didn’t these days after everything that’s happened? She was sure she didn’t look all that great either. She had deliberately kept her voice calm and with an even tone. People didn’t perceive a threat that way. However, she was always on her guard. There was something about Tripp that made her want to relax, but life had taught her not to. Not yet at least.

 

[gearhead73]

She didn't say anything for a few moments as they headed further into the store to search for shovels and plastic for the burial. As they approached a small pile of rubble, Tripp watched her stop and bend over. He was rewarded with an even better view of her fine posterior, and he couldn't help but admire the way it filled out her clothes.

“Kara and I’m sure he didn’t. I almost shot him myself.” she said as she turned her head to look back at him. He could feel his cheeks redden some as he feared that she had caught him checking her out. She looked back to what she was doing and continued.

“Look, don’t be too hard on yourself. I don’t kill unless I have to. When it comes down to me or them and when they don’t leave me any other choice.” Kara said as she turned and handed him a length of rope that she had uncovered in the debris on the floor.

"It's not the killing so much." Tripp said as he thought back for a moment at all of the people he had dispatched over the last year. He wasn't some gunfighter from an old western or some Tier 1 operator from the military, he was just a guy scared of dying that had a few weapons and knew intimately how to use them. "I guess I just didn't want you to think I killed him just because I could."

“Listen Tripp, I don’t know you from Adam but you’re welcome back to my camp as soon as we bury that guy. I don’t have much to share but I got some.” she said seeming to sense his fear of being judged.

He couldn't comprehend his good fortune. Not only was she unseemingly phased by the violence Tripp had committed, but she seemed to feel secure enough with him to invite him to stay with her. For a fleeting second, he worried that this could be an elaborate trap; a rouse to lure him into a situation where her and her compatriots could kill him and take all of his weapons and belongings. Still, his desire to end the never-ending loneliness that he had experienced in his travels so far, took over.

"Thank you Kara, I appreciate that." Tripp said, the relief evident in his voice.

The matter seemingly settled, they continued in their quest for shovels and a tarp. When they were back at the body, Kara shocked Tripp yet again by kneeling net to the corpse and rummaging through the dead man's pockets. He had never met someone as singularly focused as this woman in front of him. She knew what needed done and didn't hesitate with doing it. He was really starting to like Kara. After retrieving a small junk pocketknife and a tiny flashlight, they grasped the body and rolled it onto the tarp they had lain beside it. It was then they noticed the pistol tucked in the rear waistband of his pants. Kara grabbed the sidearm, cleared it, and handed it to Tripp. It was clear that she knew how to handle guns, and that brought the slightest of smiles to his face.

“There was a good chance he was going to take you out, Tripp. You did what you had to do.” she said once again trying to ease his fears of how she perceived him.“Let’s get him wrapped up and roped and we’ll take him into the woods and bury him. Did you find anything in the hardware store you might want?”

"I hadn't really had a chance to look before I ran into this fella, and then you." Tripp said as they worked together to wrap up the body and secure it with the rope she had found earlier. "I had been hoping to find a couple water filters as hell as the nozzles that they fit onto in some of the floor model refrigerators that might be around. They use water pressure to push the water through instead of pumps. I was thinking I could use the tubing attached to the nozzle as a straw of sorts to filter water for drinking. It would be an improvised Life Straw. I wouldn't need to carry a lot of water; I could drink what I find in rivers and streams."

When they had secured the body to and it was ready to move, she sat back on her heels to rest, seeming to consider what he said. It looked like something that he had said about using water that he found while traveling, struck a chord with her.

“You know, I’ve been wanting to get out of here and see what else is out there. Is it much the same as it is here or if there’s something more out there. It’s just been hard, being a solitary and a woman.” her voice quiet and calm.

"Well, I have been traveling for a while now, but honestly once I lost the truck I had, I stuck to trails and backroads. I had trying to remain unseen and unnoticed. Honestly for as long as I have been out here, I have no idea what things are really like. If you want, after we bury this guy, we could head back to wherever you are staying and talk about maybe heading out together to see what things have become. I have a few weapons cached in the old donut shop that I need to retrieve on our way out of here."

He couldn't believe that he was suggesting that he and this woman he had just met become traveling companions. Then again, they hadn't tried to kill one another yet so they had that going for them. Plus, that soft feminine voice, he didn't want to stop being able to hear it.

"I also have some canned goods we can share. We could talk about some next steps over some Spam." Tripp continued as the slight smile he had dawn earlier spread a little wider. 'I mean, who doesn't like Spam?' he thought.

 

[DarkWarrioress]

Kara was wondering at what she had done. She didn’t know much about Tripp but the only reasoning she had come up with was that she was tired of hearing her own voice and that didn’t seem quite fair about Tripp. He looked like he had seen some harsh times. His eyes were direct and his voice around her was kind enough. She had almost forgotten what kindness was. So far, he had been respectful enough to her. She overlooked the fact he had pointed a gun at her. A person these days had to be careful. If they liked living. Back in the hardware store she had caught him looking at her ass, that made her smile. Sticking the shovel into the soft earth that they had mounded as they made a grave for the stranger she looked over at Tripp.

“Help me move this guy into the ground?”

The got the body into the grave and began shoveling the soil back over it. With the two of them, it didn’t take long. So, they were really going to do this. They were going to get out of this small town and see how this disaster had treated the rest of the world. Maybe things were normal beyond them. Who knows? With her shovel in hand, she stood up straight, stretching her back muscles.

“Come on, dinner’s on me tonight. I caught a couple of rabbits this morning. Hopefully they’re okay to eat. There’s no telling what they’ve been eating but they seemed okay when I found them in the snares. I’ll spit them over the fire. They’re not much. Kinda small but they’ll eat us for sure.”

With her shovel over her shoulder she had started walking back to her camp, Tripp walking beside her. She grinned over at him as she recalled his words.

“Hey, there’s nothing wrong with Spam. It’ll fill the belly to be sure. We’ll save it for tomorrow night.”

They walked through the town, both on alert. She was just outside of town tucked back into the woods a bit.

“Come on in. There’s fresh water, such as it is, over there coming out of the rocks. I’ve been drinking it. The birds have been drinking it. We seem to be okay. Help yourself. I’ll start cooking the rabbits.”

She watched him as he glanced around her little humble abode. It wasn’t much at all but she had somewhere to sleep that was comfortable and comparatively safe. Kara shrugged a little. At least she could shut her eyes at night and actually sleep to the trickle of water coming from the rocks.

“You got any gear? If not I have a couple of sleeping bags. I’ll share one with you if you plan to stay the night. Make yourself comfortable,” she said as she came close to him, “those bad boys,” she nodded toward the fire where the skinny rabbits were starting to cook, “will be ready in a little bit.”

Kara gracefully lowered herself to the ground, not far from the campfire that had been just banked coals before she mounted their supper over them and the fire started to flare. She poked at the flames, before looking his way again. She didn’t even attempt to hide her study of him. Her eyes wandered over him from head to toe. He looked a little gruff. He could use a haircut and a shave. Well, maybe a shave. Those whiskers could---- she gave her head a little shake.

“So, tell me about you, Tripp.”

 

[gearhead73]

After burying the body, they had gathered their belongings and headed back to the place Kara had been staying. Tripp had retrieved the rest of his weapons and the cart from the donut shop and after a short jog to catch up they were walking side by side. For the most part, the walk had been silent, but that was ok. It was damn nice being with someone and he didn't want to do anything to spoil the moment. He was wondering what she was thinking though; especially to not only have tolerated his intrusion into her life, but to have invited him back to her home.

“Hey, there’s nothing wrong with Spam. It’ll fill the belly to be sure. We’ll save it for tomorrow night.” she said after they reached the edge of town. “Come on, dinner’s on me tonight. I caught a couple of rabbits this morning. Hopefully they’re okay to eat. There’s no telling what they’ve been eating but they seemed okay when I found them in the snares. I’ll spit them over the fire. They’re not much. Kinda small but they’ll feed us for sure.”

"That sounds amazing, thank you!" Tripp exclaimed with excitement in his voice. He had always loved rabbit since he was a kid, and his dad gave him his first .22 rifle. A few moments later after they had entered the wilderness at the outer limits of the town, they entered what he would later learn was the place she had been living.

He looked around the space trying to understand the living situation. There were three piled stone walls and fourth rock walls that had a small trickle of water running from it into a little pool on the 'floor'. The pool the overflowed into a small ditch that then carried the water under one of the walls of piled stones and toward a small creek. He guessed that at one time this had been a spring that people would come to and fill containers for drinking because they hadn't liked the taste of municipal water.

"There’s fresh water, such as it is, over there coming out of the rocks. I’ve been drinking it. The birds have been drinking it. We seem to be okay. Help yourself. I’ll start cooking the rabbits.” she had said apparently noticing him looking at the nearest water supply he had seen other than the creek it eventually spilled into.

"Thanks, I appreciate it. I'd like to try my filter setup later on. If we are heading on, we will need a way to get access to clean water." he answered hoping that his presumption that they would be traveling on together was right.

“You got any gear? If not I have a couple of sleeping bags. I’ll share one with you if you plan to stay the night. Make yourself comfortable." she as she continued on with the process of cooking them both dinner.

His attention piqued as she said she would share a sleeping bag with him. He had known what she meant, but he surveyed her again as she gracefully sat, there was a part of him that started to wonder what it would be like. She was pretty, fit, smart, and obviously tough. She trapped rabbits for God's sake. That by itself was a bit of a turn-on. He also thought that while they had been walking and even now as she stoked the fire, that she had been stealing lingering glances at him as well. Then, maybe that was just wishful thinking.

"I have a bedroll on my cart." he said with a gesture toward the converted stroller. "I usually just spread it on the ground with no covers. I don't like to get too comfortable...in case."

Her eyes were on him, but he couldn't quite tell why. She had a look of understanding, like she knew the dangers out here all too well; but there was something else.

“So, tell me about you, Tripp.” she said appearing to shake some sort of thought away.

"Well," he started with a small clear of his throat. "After my porn career ended suddenly after a sex swing accident, that really wasn't all my fault, and then finding out that teaching ferrets to do taxes wasn't as lucrative as I was led to believe; I decided to pursue my lifelong dream as a stay-at-home truck driver."

Tripp had been bound and determined to hold it together. His resolve lasted about a millisecond has he burst out laughing. It wasn't a chuckle or a giggle or even a chortle, it was a full-on, roll on the floor, tears running down his face howl of laughter. It was the kind of laugh that dissipated all of the hurt, the loneliness, and the despair of the last several months. Just when he thought he had it under control, Tripp saw the look on her face and the dam broke again.

Finally, sides and cheeks aching from the unfamiliar raucous behavior, Tripp was able to sit up and begin to compose himself.

"I'm' sorry Kara. I couldn't help myself. It's been so long since I have been able to joke with anyone that I just couldn't resist." he started as he wiped his eyes dry on his shirt sleeve. "I am, or I was a heavy truck mechanic from a small town in West Virginia. My parents passed away a few years ago and I have been on my own ever since. I'm a bit of a un nut..." he said pointing to the stroller cart, "but until several months ago I had never pointed a gun at anything but paper targets and game animals.

He was still smiling, but his tone had become more serious. He really did want her to know more about him because he wanted to know everything about her.

 

[DarkWarrioress]

"Well," he started with a small clear of his throat. "After my porn career ended suddenly after a sex swing accident, that really wasn't all my fault, and then finding out that teaching ferrets to do taxes wasn't as lucrative as I was led to believe; I decided to pursue my lifelong dream as a stay-at-home truck driver."

At first, her eyes got wide. It didn’t take her long to figure out he was yanking her chain. Then, she laughed. Peals of laughter rung across the growing night’s sky.

"I'm' sorry Kara. I couldn't help myself. It's been so long since I have been able to joke with anyone that I just couldn't resist." he started as he wiped his eyes dry on his shirt sleeve. "I am, or I was a heavy truck mechanic from a small town in West Virginia. My parents passed away a few years ago and I have been on my own ever since. I'm a bit of a un nut..." he said pointing to the stroller cart, "but until several months ago I had never pointed a gun at anything but paper targets and game animals.

She was poking at the fire and turning the rabbits on the spit as the laughter faded and was replaced by a grin.

“You know, ferrets doing taxes is a bad idea. They just don’t have the focus. Now, raccoons, that would have been a better choice. They’ll work for food and anything you give them and I was going to ask about the sex swing accident but I didn’t want to embarrass you since we just met but hey, a truck mechanic is going to come in handy, I think. There’s an older 4x4 in my parents’ yard. It doesn’t run and I can’t figure out what’s wrong with it, but if we can get it going, there’s out wheels out of here. We can stash all our gear and stuff in the bed of the truck.”

She looked over at him, squinting because the smoke from the rabbit fat, such as it was, was blinding her eyesight a little. Her stomach started to growl as the smell of cooking meat permeated the air around them and it hadn’t taken the rabbits long to cook as small as they were. Taking them from the fire, she moved carefully toward him and extending the stick they were on.

“Sorry I don’t have any plates. I usually eat from the spit. If you have a knife, you can remove this first one for yourself.”

He had a sense of humor and she found that she liked it. It had been a long time since she had anyone who could make her laugh. Hell, it had been a long time since she had run into someone she thought she could trust. No mistake, she was still wary and rightly so. Maybe one day, the world would mend again and trust could begin to grow once more. For now, everyone seemed out for themselves and their personal survival.

“How long were you a truck mechanic, Tripp? And as much as I hate to say it, we may have to kill again. People are out for themselves and not just what they can find, they want to take what someone else has. Disasters have a way of either turning people into humanitarians or assholes.”

She waited for him to take his rabbit then sat down in the dirt beside him, picking at her food as she talked.

“I use to be a school teacher. Taught first graders. My dad taught me how to shoot guns when I was young. He taught me how to clean my guns too. If you’re going to use them, you better be able to clean them, he use to say to me a lot. He use to make me take them apart and put them back together within his allotted time or a kept doing it until I could. He taught me how to fish and hunt. My mom, on the other hand,” she glanced up at Tripp with a soft gleam in her eyes, “she taught me how to cook and sew. Every woman needs to learn how to cook and sew, Kara. They’re talents that will come in handy later…." she cleared her throat, "I miss them both. A lot.”

She went back to eating. It was such a small part of herself to share with him that she hadn’t mind doing so.

 

[gearhead73]

“How long were you a truck mechanic, Tripp?" she asked as they sat together and began eating the rabbits she had prepared.

"I'd only been on the truck side the last ten years or so; before that I worked at a Ford dealership. My Dad had said I was a regular Eli Whitney when it came to figuring out out things worked, so I guess it just came naturally. The work was dirty, but I enjoyed it. I like the puzzles, the diagnosis, and helping people get where they needed to go with a reliable repair." he said as he ate, his mind going back to what seemed so long ago. "The pay was pretty good too. It allowed me to fund my guns and ammo addiction.

“I use to be a school teacher. Taught first graders. My dad taught me how to shoot guns when I was young. He taught me how to clean my guns too." Kara said as she picked at her food. "He taught me how to fish and hunt."

Tripp looked at her as she spoke. 'A school teacher, I never would have guessed.' Then again, how could he have had any idea what she had done in her former life. After all, he was sure his current look didn't scream mechanic; it was probably closer to mercenary, or maniac.

"My mom, on the other hand,” she looked up from her food, small shimmers visible in her eyes “she taught me how to cook and sew." After a small pause she cleared her throat, "I miss them both. A lot.”

They ate in silence for a while. Trip had thought about changing the subject, and getting their minds off of family, friends and lifestyles that they had lost. He missed his old life. He missed hot showers after a long day, and then sitting in his recliner watching his eighty inch flat screen. He missed Doordash, cold beer from his fridge, afternoons at the range, and long restful sleeps in his king size bed. He missed the predictability of his days, of knowing what the week would bring and how he would spend the weekend before doing it all over again. But in this moment, in a hovel, eating fire roasted animal, with a complete stranger, and absolutely no idea what the next days would bring; he didn't want to be anywhere else.

After dinner and disposing of the carcasses, Tripp unrolled his bed mat and reclined back, using his backpack as a pillow. "So is there a Mr. Kara out there somewhere?" he asked out of the blue. "I mean is there someone...like a husband or...boyfriend...like maybe you got, you know separated...or something...not that you need anyone or anything...or that you even want anyone...or it wouldn't even have to be a guy...not that you are that way...or that there would be anything wrong with being that way..." God, why did he keep fucking talking!?!

Christ, what the fuck was his problem? Conversation was always his strong suit. He could always talk to complete strangers about there cars, even when he had to drop the bomb that the repair could be a couple thousand dollars, even when he knew they didn't have it. Yet here, in this camp, with her, he was a babbling idiot.

"I'm gonna shut up now." Tripp said, lying back and staring at the ceiling. He felt like his cheeks must me glowing red as his face flushed.

 

[DarkWarrioress]

“A school teacher, I never would have guessed.”

She glanced up from staring into the fire and her lips twitched into a slight smile.

“And why is that? Don’t I look like teacher material?”

She had a teasing tone to her voice. Before “The Incident” people she didn’t know had said much the same thing and it made her wonder why it was so surprising that she was a teacher.

They ate in silence for the most part. It felt like a companionable silence. Once they were done eating, they buried the bones and sat around the small fire, each lost in their own thoughts. She missed how life once was. It seemed so simple compared to how things were now.

"So is there a Mr. Kara out there somewhere?"

His question broke the silence and she laughed while shaking her head.

“No. No Mr. Kara. I guess, I just didn’t have the time to get involved in a relationship or maybe I just wasn’t looking for one. Teaching took up a lot of my time and I thought I’d have all the time in the world to---”

Her voice fell away but when he spoke next, he made her laugh again.

"I'm gonna shut up now."

“Tripp, you’re fine. These days, I think anyone would be curious about someone they suddenly met. I know I am. You just beat me to it.”

She glanced over at him and her eyes saw that his cheeks were flushed but that could have just been from sitting so close to the fire. She reached for and tossed another stick on the fire.

“So what were you doing when… you know… “The Incident” happened?”

She got quiet as she thought about how long ago it had happened and much to her surprise, it hadn’t been that long. Maybe a month or two. Had she really been on her own for that long now? Sometimes, it felt longer and at other times, not so much. Following suit, she laid back and stared up through the holes in the ceiling. Well, if one could call it a ceiling. The fire crackled and glowed in the darkness that surrounded them and for the first time, in a long time, Kara didn’t feel alone. She didn’t know Tripp from Adam, but it was nice to have company in this empty, cold, dreary world she now found herself in.

 

[gearhead73]

He thought about her question for a moment. It had been the first time he had reflected on that afternoon since it all went spiraling out of control. That morning had been like many others. He woke up early, made a hearty breakfast, headed out to his happy place in his garage.

"I was building that 9mm SBR I was carrying when we met." he said with a gesture toward the weapons cart. "It was supposed to be a gift for my buddy's 35th birthday. I was planning to present it to him at his party later that afternoon, but..." his voice trailed off as he thought back on the events of the day. Back in the present, he continued with a shake of his head "I was packing up to head to the range to test fire it when gunfire and yelling seemed to break out all around me. I had slammed a magazine and racked the charging handle as I rounded the corner of my garage heading to see what was happening. when I got to the street I saw my neighbor George Wilkins take two in the chest from a man I had never seen before."

His heart was pounding as the repressed memory came flooding back in perfect recollection. He had never imagined that he would ever be in a position of kill or be killed, but he remembered the fear mixed with anger as the gunman started to swing his weapon toward Tripp. Whether muscle memory, or fight or flight response, in an instant Tripp had the gun in his hands shouldered and had put three 115 grain bullets in the assailants chest.

"That was the first time I had ever fired a gun at anyone." he said with a bit of a scoff. "Now look at me, I carry an arsenal with me everywhere I go."
Tripp rolled to his side and then raised up onto an elbow to look at her. "I think about them a lot, you know...my friends I mean." His eyes shifted away from her as a sudden sadness filled him. "I wonder if any of them made it."

"How about you 'Teach', what were you doing when things went down the shitter? Lesson plans? Grading papers? Reading the love notes that were passed in your class?" Tripp asked trying to shift the subject away from topics he didn't want to think about.

 

[DarkWarrioress]

"How about you 'Teach', what were you doing when things went down the shitter? Lesson plans? Grading papers? Reading the love notes that were passed in your class?"

She laughed and sat up, drawing up her legs and wrapping her arms around them as she stared into the embers of their campfire.

“No,” she said softly, “I wish it had been something as easy as that. I remember sitting in the backyard with my family. We had gotten together for a barbeque that day. I was sitting on the porch swing enjoying a glass of lemonade, teasing with my dad and my brother. I remember going into the house for something and I was….” her voice trailed off in deep thought, before she started speaking again, “I was getting something from the kitchen my dad wanted. My back was to the backyard…. The next thing I remember was that I was on the floor. I guess I had passed out and when I came to, I scrambled to my feet and looked out the kitchen window and…..well… it isn’t a scene I like to remember…”

She turned her head toward him and asked softly, “What do you think happened, Tripp? One minute we all seemed fine and in the next instant, it was all gone.”

At least that’s the way it seemed to her. She had little idea of long she had been on the kitchen floor or what had happened to put her there. When she had come to, looked out the window and saw.. just nothing, she couldn’t believe her eyes. Where had her family gone to? Why had they left? And the house, there were parts missing from it. They had simply crumbled around her. None of it made any sense to her.

 

[gearhead73]

Tripp listened intently as she recounted her last moments before everything changed. As she spoke, he remembered cookouts of his own with his buddies on the weekends. He thought about his friends, wondering where they were now. What had happened to them? Were they surviving like him? There was no communications available in the aftermath, and he hadn't come upon any of them in his travels. Was he the only one left? Was he truly alone except for this woman next to him that he barely knew?

He was brought from his memories by a question, “What do you think happened, Tripp? One minute we all seemed fine and in the next instant, it was all gone.”

He thought about it for a moment before answering. "To be honest I have no idea. I've thought about it a lot as I have been moving around; surveying the damage in different places. I feel like it was a bomb or series of bombs that were detonated above the ground, like far above. There is a lot of pressure damage, but little fire damage. We all aren't dying from radiation poisoning, so I don't think the attacks were nuclear. The power grid is down from physical damage, but batteries still work so I don't think there was a significant EMP blast."

Tripp scooted back so he was sitting up. He looked at her sitting there, arms around the legs pressed to her chest. The firelight bouncing off of her face highlighted how beautiful she was. At the same time, he could see what could only be interpreted as confusion mixed with a tinge of fear on her features. Tripp leaned forward and tentatively laid a hand on Kara's boot.

"I don't know for sure. I'm just a mechanic who watches too may war movies." He said with the slightest hint of a smile trying to ease the tension of the space. "The good news is, we are ok, and we can try to piece things together as we move from place to place."

He hopes that was true as he gave her foot a reassuring squeeze before laying back down on his bedroll. He had resigned himself to traveling from place to place long ago, but those plans had been for him to be alone. Meeting Kara had changed those plans for the better. This was the most time he had spent with anyone in the longest time, and the more time he spent with her he was glad she was the one he had run into.

"What do you miss the most...from before...you know?" he asked lacing his fingers together as he said his hands on his stomach. "I miss steak...and beer."

 

[DarkWarrioress]

His touch to her foot was reassuring and of course, he was right. They were okay, as far as they could tell and hopefully they could put the rest of the puzzle pieces together as they travelled along. Her lips curved up slightly. Everyone needed to touch and be touched at some point in their lives, especially in the times they found themselves in right now. There was so much unknown.

"What do you miss the most...from before...you know?" he asked lacing his fingers together as he said his hands on his stomach. "I miss steak...and beer."

She laughed softly in response and her answer came immediately, without pause as she gazed at his supine form.

“That’s easy,” there was a lilt of laughter and wistfulness in her tone, “ice cream.”

The only electricity one had would come from a generator, if one were lucky to possess one. She hadn’t been one of those people, at least for now and it kinda seemed humbug. If you got a generator then you needed to find the gas to fuel it and even gas wasn’t all that easy to come by. Oh, there were tanks still filled with gas but getting it to pump up and into where you wanted it, well, that was just sheer luck and these days, there was no one to replenish those tanks. It kinda made her wonder what was going on out there in the world around them.

In the flickering light of the campfire, she studied him. He was partly caught in the shadows of the night but the firelight often caught his features. He looked like he could use a shave but then, maybe he was just use to the way he was. It wasn’t a bad look. It kinda emphasized the rugged look he had going on. She wished she could see more of his eyes. Taking a deep breath, Kara laid back down and snuggled in. It was kind of reassuring to have someone else with her at night. Maybe she could finally get a good night’s sleep.

“Sleep well, Tripp.”

Kara closed her eyes and that was the last she remembered until she woke to the sun coming up. She stretched and sat up. She supposed that today was a good a day as any to get ready to move out. In one way it was quite exciting to think about. In another, it was terrifying. This place had been her home since the day she had come into this world. She knew were everything was or had been. By the same token, there was nothing here. Game was scares. As was supplies of any kind. She also wondered if there were more people like them out there. Survivors. Gazing around her camp she began to mentally make a list of what to take with her and what could be left behind.

 

[gearhead73]

Tripp awoke to the smell of breakfast. With deep intake of air through his nose he could smell bacon, coffee, and was that toast? With a small groan he twisted and contorted with a full body stretch that signaled the end of a fantastic night's sleep and the beginning of a great day. He rolled to his left up on an elbow and with one swift motion he was sitting on the edge of the mattress. From here he was able to peer through the bedroom door and just past the the opposite wall of the hallway and see a sliver of the kitchen. He could see a little bit of the granite top of the island, and confirming what his sense of smell had told him earlier, there was in fact mug with steam illuminated by the morning sun through the windows rising from it. The view changed suddenly as he saw Kara move from right to left and then stop in front of where the stove would be. She was facing away from him and it appeared as if she were wearing one of his work shirts. Tripp stood and crept quietly to the bedroom door not wanting to disturb this perfect scene. Leaning on the jamb he filed his arms across his shirtless chest, a broad smile spreading across his face.

She was dancing and humming a tune he wasn't familiar with. Her morning hair was tied up in a messy ponytail-ish thing he had never understood how she made. She had always just twirl her hair in her fingers in a circle above her here and voila, it was up. It was Tripp's favorite look on her. She had earbuds in so he couldn't tell what she was listening to, but must have had a serious beat of some kind. Her head bobbed forward, and she swayed rhythmically from side to side, even stopping once to put her hands on her knees and stick her slightly visible pantiless butt out and do what he could only assume was twerk. His hand flew to his mouth to stifle his laugh, not wanting to interrupt the show going on before him. She was perfection in this moment. She was free, happy, beautiful and by all accounts his. The sun cascading through the windows illuminated errant strands of hair and the surface of her skin in profile giving her the shimmering appearance of an angel. She moved with grace and purpose and as the baggy shirt shifted different parts of her toned body would show; tantalizing him and making him forget about breakfast and coffee. His appetite for her was growing and overtaking his desire to continue watching from a distance.

Slowly and stealthily he moved from the door way of the bed room and into the kitchen. He crept around the island, doing on the balls of his feet trying not to make a sound. She hadn't noticed him yet being lost in the music, all surrounding sound drowned out. She was turning toward the refrigerator when he decided to make his move. In two quick steps he closed the distance and wrapped his arms around her waist and pulling her to him.

"Good morning beautiful." he whispered huskily as he buried his face in the back of her hair. He inhaled deeply taking in her scent, faint traces of perfume, and maybe even a hint of the events from last night. "How did you sleep?"

"Like shit you fucker!" she said turning quickly.

The face in front of him wasn't Kara! It was the dirty sunken face from a man he saw earlier; the man that one he had killed. The figure grabbed a knife from the counter, charged toward Tripp whose arms had gone wide in surprise and who was now trying to step back away from the person threatening him. Tripp backed into the kitchen island and could go no further as the man closed the distance, raised the knife and plunged it into Tripp's chest.

"I'M SORRY!" Tripp shouted as he sat bolt upright on is bedroll. "I'm sorry..." he croaked barely above a whisper as he panted heavily and looked around. He wasn't in a kitchen, he was in what was barely left of a structure at all. There was no one attacking him and he was alive and uninjured. Kara was there, but she was dressed in the same clothes as yesterday. It had been a dream, a fucked up awful dream.

"I'm sorry Kara." Tripp managed to say after a moment. "I need to get some air." he continued getting to his feet and turning to the entrance of the shelter.

 

[DarkWarrioress]

“What the---”

"I'm sorry Kara…. I need to get some air."

The sound of Tripp’s voice made her whirl from the fire. She watched with concerned eyes as Tripp hurriedly strode away from camp, He needed some space to himself. She wasn’t sure what had exactly happened but she didn’t try to detain him. They each had their own demons to deal with. This damn disaster did that to them. Instead, she continued to make a pot of coffee and while that was brewing, she went through her collectibles to see what could be left behind. Hopefully, by the time Tripp got back she would be ready to go.

Through the morning and only pausing to sort things into two piles: To go with and one for leaving behind. She paused now and then to refill her battered coffee mug, momentarily glancing at the spare one she left by the fire and the coffee pot. Tripp still hadn’t returned yet. She was not worried. Clearly something had shaken him and he needed to deal with it on his own. She leaning her rifle by the small pile of things that was going with them.

It was a good day. The sky was as blue as it was ever going to get. She could even hear a few birds singing. Kara filled all the water containers she could find. There was no telling where they would find water out there or even how drinkable it was. She stood up from stirring the fire and stretched her back, staring off into the distance. Slowly she moved over to her rifle and picked it up. She kept it pointed down but she did take off the safety. Was it Tripp coming up the road or was it someone else she would have to deal with?

 

[gearhead73]

Tripp walked for an hour or so without even registering that his feet were moving. He just kept taking step after step as his mind whirled and twisted with thoughts of his past, death, Kara and a whole host of random tidbits that when strung together outlined his life. Finally stopping and catching his breath he looked around and then looked himself over suddenly realizing that he was unarmed. With a swear, he spied a large flat granite boulder and sat down resting his elbows on his knees and putting his face in his hands.

‘What the fuck is wrong with you!?’ He whispered as he felt the edges of his eye grow moist. It was the image of the dead man’s face that kept flashing back, judging him, and calling him a murderer. Tripp had killed before, and it had barely phased him so why was this time so different?

Pressing to his feet and starting off again, he looked around to get his bearings and headed off toward Kara’s place. He thought it would be a small miracle that she would still be there after he just walked out with nothing more than an “I’m sorry”. He wasn’t sure how he could explain what he was feeling, but he thought he wanted to try. She was the first person he had formed any kind of connection with and though it was still new, he felt it was important.

Sixty yards from the place she had called home he could see her standing in the doorway, rifle in hand, eyeing him as he walked toward her.

“Kara, let me explain…please.” Tripp said as he raised his hands, palms facing her. Not giving her a chance to stop him in case she was done with his crazy ass, he plunged forward with his explanation.

“I can’t get that guy I shot yesterday out of my head. I have killed people before and I know I will probably have to again, but he was different. All of the people I have shit before were bad people; or at least I was sure they were. I had seen them doing bad things to others or I knew they wanted to kill and rob me just to get what I have.”

Putting his hands down, he looked at the ground and shuffled his feet like he was a child confessing that he was the one who had broken the window with his baseball.

“But that guy yesterday…he was an afraid. He wasn’t trying to hurt me or take my stuff; he was just a scared man trying to get away and survive just like us. Yeah, he was gonna draw on me…” he said looking up to meet her gaze. “…but what if he was just as worried about me hurting him as I was about him hurting me?”

His eyes fell to the ground again unable to stand it if there was even a hint of judgement on her face.

“It’s driving me crazy. I played it off like everything was fine, but it’s been eating at me ever since. What if I had waited just another two seconds…” his voice trailed off as he rolled yesterday’s events over in his mind again.

 

[DarkWarrioress]

“It’s driving me crazy. I played it off like everything was fine, but it’s been eating at me ever since. What if I had waited just another two seconds…”

She walked up to him, setting the rifle aside as she stopped in front of him. Her eyes were kind and gentle as she reached out a hand to his shoulder and let it rest there.

“Tripp, stop torturing yourself like this. What ifs do no good in this life except to drive you insane. The man might have been just as scared as you were or maybe not. That’s something we’ll never know. All I can tell you is that when I ran into him, he was up to no good. There’s no telling what he would have done to me if I hadn’t drawn a bead on him with my rifle. The world, such as it is, is horrible on mankind. It’s made us suspicious, untrusting, cautious and angry. You had no choice, Tripp. It was either you or him and I think you know that deep down. It could easily have gone the other way.”

She stood there, watching his face. Watching his facial expressions move through his eyes. Her lips turned up in a small smile.

“I’m glad you’re back. I wasn’t sure if I said or did something wrong to offend you. Look, we’re going to be traveling together and to some extent, we need to learn to trust each other because no matter what’s out there? We’re going to need to have each other’s backs and we need to be able to talk to each other, okay?”

She turned slightly away from him, her eyes on the things she thought they could use.

“You want to go over this stuff and see if we need or can use everything I have here?”

She eyed the small pile of stuff and next to it was piled the small stock of food items she had managed to squirrel away.

“I sure hope we get a vehicle to use. Packing around this stuff is going to be a pain.”

Any kind of vehicle was going to require gas and Kara wasn’t sure what that supply looked like. She didn’t think, on one hand, that it was going to be too bad. None of the gasoline stations had blown up in the chaos that reined. The question would be, could they still pump it? Whatever had happened, had happened swiftly before anyone could predict its coming. It was as if the world had simply froze in time. In that moment. She supposed that most people had turned into ash and simply blown away but there were survivors, like Tripp and her and why they had been spared, she didn’t know. Were there others out there? They’d never know if they didn’t get out of here and go exploring.

 

[gearhead73]

As he stood there, listening to Kara, he couldn’t help but focus on the gentle way she touched his shoulder. Her voice was soft and kind and he got the sense that she genuinely cared about helping him feel better. She was looking right at him and somehow he felt that she was really seeing him. Her big brown eyes were looking into his and she was talking to the real Tripp; the one no one had seen in ages. When she had finished speaking, he could see traces of a smile and it was all he could do in that moment not to pull her into hug. It had been so long since he had felt any kind of physical intimacy, that even the slight weight of her tiny hand on his shoulder was welcome and he wished this moment could go on. He wished he could pull her into his arms and forget about the need to move on. He wished they just stay there forever and find a way to build some kind of life out of the rubble and destruction around them. She spoke and brought him back to reality.

“You want to go over this stuff and see if we need or can use everything I have here?” she said turning from him toward a small pile of items that she had laid out neatly as she prepared to move out while he had been out sulking.

“I’m not too worried about a vehicle; acquiring one of those is easy. The fuel to keep it going is the big problem.” He said trying to reassure her. “I’ve been thinking about that though. Most people start trying to think of ways to get the fuel that is in the underground tanks of gas stations, but there are literally thousands of gallons sitting around in abandoned vehicles.”

As he spoke he stepped to his bed roll, ent and began rolling it up tightly, getting it ready to stow in his gun cart.

“The big thing we need to try and find is batteries. Not car batteries, but portable power that we can use to energize the fuel pumps in cars and trucks we come across. I am thing cordless tool batteries would do the trick. They are high powered and last an amazingly long time without a charge. With access to the engine compartments, we can energize the power center, and use the car or truck's own pump to transfer fuel to whatever we are driving. That way we don’t have to carry hundreds of gallons of gas with us.”

After he has all of things picked up and stored in his cart, he turned back to Kara and stepped to where she was standing. He looked into her eyes and for a moment he thought he could be happy to stand their lost in those big brown pools forever.

“Thank you for what you said earlier.” He said and his eyes dropped for just a second as the embarrassment of being such a pussy earlier flashed back into his mind. “I do have your back, and I know you have mine. We are going to be fine as long as we stick together. Trust me.”

After a brief pause, Tripp turned, stooped to grab his backpack and hoisted it to his shoulder.

“Shall we go?”

 

[DarkWarrioress]

“I’m not too worried about a vehicle; acquiring one of those is easy. The fuel to keep it going is the big problem.” He said trying to reassure her. “I’ve been thinking about that though. Most people start trying to think of ways to get the fuel that is in the underground tanks of gas stations, but there are literally thousands of gallons sitting around in abandoned vehicles.”

She paused in gathering up stuff to shove in her backpack and looked over at him.

“I never thought about that. Clever.”

She grinned and continued packing.

“The big thing we need to try and find is batteries. Not car batteries, but portable power that we can use to energize the fuel pumps in cars and trucks we come across. I am thing cordless tool batteries would do the trick. They are high powered and last an amazingly long time without a charge. With access to the engine compartments, we can energize the power center, and use the car or truck's own pump to transfer fuel to whatever we are driving. That way we don’t have to carry hundreds of gallons of gas with us.”

She mused silently about where they might accumulate a few of those for the moment.

“There’s a RV park just on the way out of town. Maybe we can find a battery or two that we’ll need, there.”

She hefted her pack onto her back and adjusted her straps slightly before reaching for her gun and some of the extra ammunition she had left out on purpose. Looking over at him, he was ready too.

“That cart of yours is smart. I guess I never thought about traveling out from where I have been to look for one.”

“Thank you for what you said earlier. I do have your back, and I know you have mine. We are going to be fine as long as we stick together. Trust me. Shall we go?”

Kara walked over to him and laid a hand on his arm. Smiling softly she gave his forearm a soft squeeze before letting her hand fall to her side.

“You’re welcome. I meant every word. Yeah. Yeah,” she said as she glanced around one last time, “let’s go.”

Never had she ever thought she’d leave here. This was the place where she had grown up, happily. Her family was here. Sadly, they weren’t alive any more and she had no idea way she had been spared but here she was, getting ready to go out in the world with a stranger she had met. Some would think her crazy but something told her that Tripp was a good guy and he was pretty easy on they eyes too.

They started walking in the direction of the RV park. Hopefully, they could find some of the batteries he was looking for. She tugged her baseball cap lower over her eyes to protect them from the sun’s rays as they walked. The pigment of her skin was slightly darker than some. She thought of it as olive and because of that, she seldom burned until she had been exposed to the sun’s rays for an extended amount of time. She silently promised herself to look for sunscreen while Tripp looked around for batteries.

By mid-afternoon they reached the edge of town and the RV park she told Tripp about. They turned into the empty park. The silence was deafening. Doors to RVs’ were swinging open and she knew them to be empty. Stopping against a damaged tree trunk, she slid her pack from her shoulders.

“I’ll take the far end of the park if you want to start here.”

She gazed at him, waiting.